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Plato’s Ideal Society: When will it Come about?
In Plato’s Dialogues, he argued that there is a Truth, and that this Truth is comprised of the Ideal Forms, metaphysical truths from which all concrete existence is derived (Good, Justice, Beauty). In Republic, Plato argued that only philosophers can … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Government, Love
Tagged Christianity, faith, Jesus, Love, philosophy, plato, socrates
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Do not Fear Death, because Perfect Love Casts out Fear
Death is the last act of life that occurs in an instant in time, yet it opens to eternity. Hence the moment and the eternal are combined at once in death. Death is a time when our perceptions of life … Continue reading
The Writings of Francesco Petrarca, “Petrarch”
Reading the Roman historian Livy’s account of Philip V of Macedon’s ascent of a peak in the Hebrus Mountains inspired in the Italian Francesco Petrarca, Petrarch, the desire to attempt the ascent of a similar summit. Petrarch recorded the adventures … Continue reading
Posted in Biography, Christianity, European history
Tagged augustine, books, Christianity, history, philosophy, Religion, renaissance
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Of Love and Empathy
What is love, and is it related to empathy? Can a person feel empathy if they do not feel love? Can I love a person if I do not empathize with them? Great philosophers have written great books about such … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, Love
Tagged Christ, Christianity, empathy, Healing, knowing, Love, mental-health, relationships, Virgin Mary
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Reflections on Erich Fromm, “The Art of Loving”
For Erich Fromm (1900-1980), the German-American psychologist, love is active power, where one preserves one’s own integrity. Love helps overcome separation and anxiety, stimulates union. Love is part of a need to know, to know someone else or self. It … Continue reading
Posted in Love
Tagged charity, Christianity, empathy, faith, god, hope, knowledge, Love
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What is True History?
The mirror of the past is the only way to peer at the image of what is human. The reflection is darkened by time and sin. Specters of the dead, haunting the dusty stacks of long-ago thoughts, turn up repeatedly, … Continue reading
Posted in General Essays
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Son of Man
Today we celebrate the birth of the unknown, Who came to earth as all men of a mother born, He proclaimed himself unique coming to atone, For the sins of all mankind so forlorn. Such pain he took upon himself, … Continue reading
Posted in Christianity, poetry
Tagged bible, Christianity, faith, god, Jesus, son-of-man, verse
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Review of the novel Joe, by Larry Brown
Joe is a book showing the underside of rural life among the poor and ignorant in late 20th century Mississippi. The protagonist Joe is a drunk and aggressive man with few concerns about anyone else besides himself but who has … Continue reading
Reflections on Daniel Boone, American Frontiersman, and John Filson, his First Biographer
John Filson, in his 1784 portrait of “The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon” appended to The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke, declared that “curiosity is natural to the soul of man.” With these words Filson sparked the beginning … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography, books, Natural History
Tagged american-frontier, book-review, books, daniel-boone, frontier, frontiersmen, history, travel
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Tecumseh: A Reflection
When I wish to find out about a person from the past, the first thing I look for, to wrap my mind around so that I feel like I might know this person, is an image, a portrait or photograph. … Continue reading
Posted in American History, Biography
Tagged brock-university, history, issac-brock, ontario, tecumseh
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The American Plutarch 